Dear friends,
Today (Monday 13 April) is the Global Day of Action on Military Spending where peace campaigners around the world unite to protest the amount that is spent every year on war and preparations for war. In the UK our military budget is £38 billion – this while vital public services are subject to drastic cuts.
http://demilitarize.org.uk/
Our General RE scheme of work has a lesson plan to help students reflect critically on the issue of military spending.
We also have a new workshop, Peace, Faith,and Politics: Nuclear Weapons which encourages young people to think about nuclear weapons as an issue in the next month’s General Election.
School Workshops
We are currently taking bookings for our popular peace education workshops for this summer term. Details of what we offer are on our website – remember that we work with schools all over England and Wales.
I will be in the North West/North Wales area during the week beginning 22 June and in the North East/Yorkshire during the week beginning 6 July – if you are in these areas and are interested in booking some of our workshops please do get in touch.
Over the Top – A forum theatre performance
At Meadow Springs Academy battle lines are drawn between peace activist parent and pro military head.
Over the Top focuses on the dilemma created when two contrasting points of view over the role of the military in our schools clash and come to a head-on confrontation. This production promotes discussion and exchange of ideas – the show itself is there to prompt this debate. Details here
Upcoming Events
Climate Changes Everything: vigil of hope and solidarity – Friday 1 May, London
General Election – Thursday 7 May: Read our election briefing (pdf) here
International Conscientious Objectors’ Day – Friday 15 May: Use our Should Christians fight in war resource from our General RE syllabus
There are more stories of conscientious objection in the First World War section of our website.
Feast of Bl Franz Jägerstätter – Thursday 21 May: Workshop resource
Yesterday (12 April) the Pope spoke about the Armenian genocide of 1915. Our friends at Facing History have a professional development workshop on 23 April exploring why the Armenian genocide is important and why we should teach it in Key Stage 3 history. Details here
Pax Christi AGM – Saturday 6 June: With guest speaker Ziad Hilal SJ. Fr Ziad works for Jesuit Refugee Service in Homs, Syria
In peace
Matt
Schools and Youth Outreach Worker
